Join our million monthly readers! Subscribe to Riviera Maya News

US housing market sales surge in February

By Laurel Delp, Freelance Journalist on March 24, 2015

US single home sales spike to their highest levels in seven years.

Despite a seemingly never-ending harsh winter, the Commerce Department reports that during the month of February, the sale of new single-family homes jumped 7.8 percent to an annual rate of 539,000 units.

This jump makes it the highest level since February 2008.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast new home sales falling to a 465,000-unit pace last month.
Home sales in January were also revised, showing sales of 500,000 units from the previously reported 481,000. A new home sale is counted at the signing of a contract.

Despite the cold snowy weather that continued to slam many parts of the US, February continued to gain sale leads with 152.9 percent increase in the Northeast last month. In the South, sales also jumped 10.1 percent but fell 12.9 percent in the Midwest and 6.0 percent in the West.

With surging home sales came the fall of available new houses by 1.4 percent last month to 210,000. Considering the pace of February, new home sales would take 4.7 months to fill the supply.